A woman was crushed and seriously injured yesterday by a dolphin in an accident described by a marine biologist as "three million to one". A 27-year-old Pukekohe woman was onboard a boat with four others in Slipper Island's south bay, just off the Coromandel Peninsula, when what is thought to be a bottlenose dolphin leapt out of the water in a normal display of acrobatics.
But it crashed down onto the front of the boat sending one woman through a windscreen and crushing another. The second woman received minor injuries. The 27-year-old suffered a cardiac arrest at the beach before being flown to Auckland Hospital. She is described as being in a serious, but stable condition.
A fully grown bottlenose dolphin can weigh up to 600 kilos. "It's definitely not something you'd want to be hit by. It's a very solid, heavy animal... they're just muscle and bone these animals," says DOC Marine Mammal Ranger Kirsty Russell.
Link & Image: OneNews
Tags: Dolphin | Mammal | Injury
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